It would appear that Jake Paul will always be there to poke Dana White in the eye whenever the subject of UFC fighter compensation is discussed.
In a recent question and answer session with GQ, the president of the UFC, Dana White, was questioned on the amount of money that the promotion pays its competitors. It should not come as a surprise to anyone at this point that YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul didn’t take very long to respond to your question.
Paul has become almost as well-known for his criticisms of White and his crusade to have the UFC pay fighters more money as he is for what he has done in the boxing ring so far, which includes two knockouts of former UFC champion Tyron Woodley and one knockout of former Bellator and ONE Championship champ Ben Askren. In addition, Paul has become well-known for what he has done in the boxing ring so far, which includes two knockouts of former
White told GQ that fighters always want more money, but that the UFC’s fighters “get paid what they’re supposed to get paid.”
The argument put up by White is that boxing overpaid its competitors, which resulted in a significant drop in the sport’s popularity and occurred at the same time that the UFC began its ascent to prominence.
The best fighters in the UFC do quite well for themselves financially, and it’s likely that the champions and a select few others get a cut of the pay-per-view sales as well. In addition, there is a post-fight bonus structure in place at the UFC, and competitors receive payment for each contest based on a sliding scale from the UFC’s apparel deal with Venum. In addition, it is common knowledge that the company has a long history of distributing discretionary bonuses in addition to fighters’ contracted salary.
New fighters begin their careers in the UFC at the lowest tier of the pay structure, which normally awards them $10,000 just to compete and an additional $10,000 if they win. Some people have the opinion that the rate keeps climbing, although it does so at a rather sluggish rate.
It should come as no surprise that the query about wages put White on the defensive.
“If you don’t like it, there’s a simple solution to this problem,” he told GQ. “Go start your own MMA organization – no barrier to entry. Knock yourself out. Pay (fighters) whatever you want to pay them. It’s been done before. How’s it worked out for other guys? Not well. Mind your business.”
In a tweet that he made on Friday, Paul reiterated many of the same concerns that he has been making in the past when criticizing Dana White and the compensation structure of the UFC.
“No major sports organization pays its athletes as poorly as Dana White & UFC,” Paul posted. “If u don’t see that then you are one of Dana’s sheeps. They keep talking about selling out 21 events in a row but never talking about raising fighter pay, giving them healthcare & fair revenue split.”
Even from inside its own ranks, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has been subjected to criticism over the remuneration of its fighters. Luke Rockhold, a former middleweight champion who is scheduled to compete again the following week, expressed his disagreement with the post-fight bonuses of $50,000 that are given out.
“What the f*ck are we doing here? F*cking $50,000 bonuses that are getting paid out for like two decades? What the f*ck?” Rockhold told MMA Fighting in a video interview. “The valuation of the company’s going up f*cking billions of dollars, and we’re still stuck on $50,000 bonus checks? What the f*ck is this?”
